Hialeah police search for purse-snatching robber

Hialeah police are on the lookout for a robber who stole an elderly woman's purse at a shopping plaza at 4950 W. 12th Ave. shortly before noon on Sunday.

Surveillance video released by authorities shows the suspect, dressed in a red, striped shirt and dark pants, approaching the woman who is talking on her phone in front of a store. The robber, who is described to be in his early 30s, then violently grabs the woman's purse, knocks her to the ground and drags her with him for several feet as she tries to hold on to her belongings.

Once the 65-year-old woman loses her grip the man starts running away, the purse in hand, and flees the scene in a gray Nissan Sentra, heading north on West 12th Avenue.

According to Miami Herald news partner CBS4, people who work in the shopping center said they saw the thief scoping out the place and looking for a victim.

"We need more police presence here," Humberto Hernandez, a business owner in the shopping center told CBS4. "There’s nasty people around here. We’re trying to weed them out little by little. It’s a shame that it had to come to this."

Police are asking anyone with information regarding the case to call the Hialeah Police Department at 305-687-2525 or contact Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

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